


A Common Gift for Someone You Know Nothing About

by grrmwannabe



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Gen, Happy Birthday Joey, Kaiba and Mokuba are mentioned, Post-Ceremonial Duel, Pre-Dark Side of Dimensions, everyone has dub names except for Anzu because I say so, joey's just going through it, mention of past alcoholism, probs not gonna be DSOD compliant but like who gives a shit?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-16 03:43:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17542022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grrmwannabe/pseuds/grrmwannabe
Summary: It's Joey's birthday and everyone's here to celebrate! Then a mysterious gift arrives and it's not as fun as it sounds.





	A Common Gift for Someone You Know Nothing About

            “Card sleeves?” Joey asked. He stared at the stereotypical flame design with the KaibaCorp logo conveniently engulfed in it that decorated the back of the plastic sleeves and raised an eyebrow.  
            “Yeah. Ya need ‘em for actual competitions,” Tristan insisted. “It’s the rules now, that’s what the lady told me, and your cards kinda look… eh…”

            “They’ve seen better days,” Yugi interjected with a giggle. “But these will make them look cool.”

            Yugi did have a point. Fire worked with Joey’s overall aesthetic, along with destroying Kaiba. _Sure, I’ll use them_ , he decided as he pushed the wrapping paper into the growing pile in the corner of the living room. Yugi’s Grandpa was nice enough to let them celebrate his birthday in Kame Game, so he at least tried to be organized in his gift unwrapping. He and his friends were all sat on the floor and they one by one pushed presents towards him. In one corner was the destroyed wrapping paper in a bloated pile, and actual gifts in another. Food and crumbs were sort of everywhere, but that’s a later issue.

            “Y’all didn’t have to get me all’a this, y’know,” he said, again.

            “This is the 5th time you said that, Joey,” Anzu rolled her eyes. After every gift Joey insisted that they weren’t necessary. Even though the puffy winter coat, boots, and cards were appreciated, he could’ve gotten them himself.

            “But I was saving for some of this stuff.”

            “Now you can save for something else.” Yugi placed another – god, _another_ – wrapped box in front of Joey. “Open this one.”

            Despite his earlier protest, Joey didn’t even hesitate to admire the wrapping paper. He tore into it like a child and gasped when he revealed what was inside.

            “Yuge… you didn’t hav—”

            “To get you this, I know,” Yugi finished for him, “but it’s better than hiding your money in your pillowcase.”

            The gift in question was a Red Eyes Black Dragon piggybank. It was really chunky, to fit all the money inside. There was a slit in-between it’s eyes to insert coins and bills while the tail was removable to get it all out. It was perfect.

            “Tell me, how much was this?”

            “Not telling,” Yugi had a singsong tone in his voice that made Joey a bit nervous. Must’ve cost a fortune. Or he used his employee discount. He’ll ask later.

            Joey pushed the wrapping paper to the side but held the piggybank close. It was so light. Once he got home, it was going to gain a few pounds. The idea of that was exciting to him.

            He noticed everyone was pretty content at the moment. No one was shaking with excitement as they waited for their turn to give more gifts. It was finally over.

            “Joseph, there’s something else here! Came in the mail!” Grandpa called out from the other room.

            Joey tried to give a convincing groan, but he was too excited. Grandpa gave the best gifts, that was a fact.

            The old man waddled into the room with a bottle of champagne in hand. There was a ribbon on it with a tag, but that was it. No other indication that it was a gift.

            Gift or no gift, Joey felt his throat tighten up.

            “Ahh, no, Gramps. I-I don’t drink,” Joey raised up his hands. _Thought he knew that._

            “Oh, this isn’t from me. I got you the piggybank,” Grandpa placed the champagne down next to Anzu, who was the farthest away from him.

            “Grandpa, I told you we weren’t supposed to tell him!” Yugi whined.

            “I didn’t want him to think I got him this.”

            Joey only paid partial attention to the conversation, his eyes were directly on the bottle. The label was fancy. KaibaCorp levels of fancy. Maybe Kaiba got it for him, he doesn’t know anything. Champagne was the most common gift for people you know nothing about.

            “Kaiba actually got me something? Pssh, Mokuba probs put him up to it,” Joey let out a laugh. Yeah, that makes sense, Mokuba had a bigger soft spot for Joey and his friends. Kaiba only cared about Yugi. Anzu lifted up the bottle and stared at the tag.

            “Ummm… it’s not… uhhh…” Anzu bit her lip and handed the bottle to Tristan. His eyes widened as he read the tag.

            “It’s… it’s from your dad, bro,” he explained.

            Joey’s neck tightened up a bit more. _Of course. Of fucking course dad would get me a fucking bottle_. He leaned back on his hands and stared into space for a bit. _Tristan drinks, he’ll enjoy it, it’ll be fine_. Joey’s arms began to itch and the sight of the bottle made his stomach churn. Yugi’s eyes darted between the bottle and Joey, ready to jump into action. Ready to try and solve the issue at hand.

            “Did he at least say happy birthday to me?” Joey asked with a bitter tone. “Better, did he actually acknowledge how old I am?”

            Tristan clicked his teeth as he read the rest of the tag. “Um, no. But… he kinda… he might’ve taken some of your money to get you this. And some for himself. That’s what he wrote here,” he said it so bluntly, it was borderline sarcastic. It would be funny if that’s not how Tristan speaks all the time.

            Joey balled his hands into fists. “He _didn’t_.”

            Tristan shook his head. “I think he did.”

            Yugi didn’t say anything as he got up and wrapped his arms around Joey. It was both a hug and to hold him back, Joey knew. If Yugi wasn’t there, Joey would’ve gotten up and raced back home to give his dad a piece of his mind. He wanted to punch, he wanted to hurt. He took a deep breath to try and calm his urges.

            “Gramps, how much is that, would you say?” Joey asked

            “It’s a pricey one,” he started. “I’d say… about 25,000 yen.” He took out a broom and began to sweep up the pile of wrapping paper.

            Joey tried to get up, but Yugi held him down. Rage boiled in his blood and his vision got blurry. He felt another person wrap their arms around him, Anzu most likely, and tried again to get up. How much did the bastard spend on himself, if he was ‘so willing’ to spend that much on him. How much of his money was gone?

            “We can fix it.” Anzu insisted.

            “Yeah!” Yugi said. “We can—”

            “ _Don’t_ give me money. I’ll just… save more,” Joey growled. His entire body shook with anger at the idea. He had so much money and now it was gone. “Tristan, the bottle’s yours. Happy Birthday.”

            “We can try to do something about the money,” Tristan suggested. “We can sell this.”

            “ _No_ ,” Joey spat and everyone froze. “I don’t… I don’t want to get back into that shit. Just… I don’t know, do something with it.

 “I appreciate y’all trying to help me, but the money is my problem. I gotta fix it. I got that piggy bank now, so I can have it somewhere safe!” He tried to look at the bight side. He could hide his piggy bank under his bed. Probably under his dvds, his dad should feel too uncomfortable to look through there. Emphasis on _should_.

            “Is there something we could do, Joey?” Yugi asked.

            “I dunno, Yuge. If you can somehow magically get me a job that pays enough for me to earn all that money back,” he groaned.

            Yugi looked at him as if he lost his mind. “You… you remember my Grandpa owns a game shop, right?”

            “I mean, yeah, but you shouldn’t just give me the job! That has to be illegal or something.” Joey couldn’t handle the idea of getting involved with the law again.

            “If you give me an application, I can just interview you,” Grandpa chimed up. “Tristan, help me plug in his vacuum. I can’t bend like I used to.”

            Joey stared at Tristan as he got up to help Grandpa with the task at hand. He couldn’t bring himself to actually look at the old man. He’s done too much for him. Taught him how to play the game, gave him a place to stay when he needed it, but a job? That was just… too much.

            “Joey…?” Yugi whispered. “The application’s really simple, trust me. And the interview is a breeze. Grandpa made me do it.”

            “He made _you_ do it?” he asked.

            “Of course, I made Yugi apply. Need it, or else I’ll get in trouble for ‘tax fraud’, even though it’s my own money and…” Grandpa began to go on a tangent as he turned on the vacuum and the noise drowned out anything he was saying.

            Tristan left the room with the bottle and Joey leaned his head on Anzu’s to think about the opportunity. Gods, he wanted a drink. The raw need to feel the burning liquor roll down his throat was eating at his heart and he forced himself to keep sitting. _I’m doing fine, I don’t need it, I definitely don’t need it_ , he thought as he took a few deep breaths.

            “I still… I don’t know…” he sighed as he blew some hair out of his face. “I don’t want you to pity me.”

            “We don’t pity you. This is just what friends do,” Anzu explained. Her voice was a bit louder to fight against the loud whirring of the vacuum. “We try to help you become the best you can be.”

            “Yeah, and Grandpa’s job will really help you,” Yugi said. “And if you want, you can keep your piggybank here. Every time you get paid, I can text you how much you got and just put it in the piggybank for you. Then your dad will never touch it!”

            The idea made Joey’s mouth water. A job and a stable place to keep his money that wasn’t a bank. Banks were too scary for him. Especially the ones near his house. Working at the game shop was also a perfect place for him. It was something he liked and he was working with his best friend, and he would be near his money most of the time.

            The idea seemed so perfect.

            “I… I think… I’ll have to think about it, alright?” Joey decided. The vacuum finally turned off. “But can I stay the night here? I don’t think I could handle staying over my dad’s place. Too fucking pissed.”

            “Yeah, that’s fine. It’ll be like a sleepover!” Yugi’s voice raised a pitch with how excited he was with the prospect of a sleepover.

            “Oh, that’s what we’re doing now?” Tristan asked as he walked back into the room, empty handed. “Didn’t bring any overnight clothes.”

            “You never bring overnight clothes, ya nimrod,” Joey rolled his eyes.

            “Neither do you,” Anzu pointed out.

            “Well, I know there’s a pair of pjs in that pile so I’ll just wear that with the winter coat tomorrow,” Joey said as he finally stood up and stretched. “Hey Tristan can ya get me a coke or something?”

            “Really? I just got back,” he groaned.

            “I know, but I’m the birthday boy so you can’t whine to me today.”

            “Fine,” Tristan walked back out towards the kitchen. “I’ll whine _tomorrow_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Y'all should follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/aquafinamann), I post good content.


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